


I was once here

by Tekkaguya



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Blood, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Emissaryshipping, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Playmaker is his own character, Selfcest, VRAINS Rarepair Event 2019, Violence, mentions of past trauma, or something like that I suppose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tekkaguya/pseuds/Tekkaguya
Summary: Playmaker is the darkness and Yusaku the moon.Unable to communicate with the moon, the darkness watched it, stagnant, admiring from affar.Until one fateful day the moon is reincarnated in the earth.The darkness waited eons for this to happen.And it is not going to waste this opportunity.A short story that will cover the 7 prompts for the Vrains rarepair event bc I love this ship so much.-Tags will be modified little by little to avoid spoilers(?
Relationships: Fujiki Yuusaku/Playmaker
Kudos: 14
Collections: VRAINS Rarepairs 2019!





	1. Time and Limits

The darkness always followed the moon.

Drawn to its light since the beginning of times, accompanied by the stars.

Why was it like this? It wondered multiple times.

The sun produced a lot more light than the moon, able to give light to a whole planet for hours until it was the darkness time to appear and cover it with its own veil and then it was when the moon appeared.

Its light so gently with the darkness, never burning it like the Sun does.

At first this phenomena intrigued the darkness, and that intrigation became fascination and with the passage of time, it morphed into the thing that mortals used to call 'love' or something similar to it.

But, has the moon ever noticed?

The countless times the darkness has watched the moon across the millenia?

The darkness wasn't sure, not even with all its power as an ancient entity could it ever reach the moon, only limited to tell all its thoughts with its surrounding stars.

'Why don't you just talk to it? You are a god! You are capable of doing a lot of things with the help of your powers!' One of its stars said one time, its yellow little eyes shining with hope at its own wonderful idea.

'Do you think I never tried?' The darkness answered harshly, making its little star flinch 'Of course I tried! It just... never answered a single time'.

The little star snorted. 'You are destined to be alone forever, it seems. Don't be so sad, at least you have me!'

'Shut up'.

The darkness loved his stars, but they [this one specially] could be really irritating at times with its comments.

But it just wondered, why the moon was so far? Why it was impossible to talk directly to it?

And it wondered, for hours, days, years, decades and for so long when even the time itself could almost become countless and useless for an entity like it.

The darkness could have spend for all the endless time like this until, one fateful day, it was able to see how the moon let go one of its pieces. A small teardrop that traveled straight into the earth, its beautiful blue veil getting lost amongst the clouds until it disappeared from its view.

This was a signal, the darkness was sure. The signal from the moon for them to finally encounter in the earth.

It has been decades since the darkness last visited that place. Last time and everytime it decided to chek upon things in there, it has to manifest in the form of a black jaguar to blend perfectly and avoid being spotted or even bothered by humans who feared and respected its image when they dared to fix their eyes on its image.

But the moon wouldn't asume the image of an animal nor a deity. The darkness came to the conclusion that the most probable thing was that the moon decided to be born as a mortal.

Was this the only way for them to encounter?

What if it was wrong?

It was now or never. Without hestitating, the darkness took its decision.

For the first time in all its ages, the darkness would encarnate itself in the earth in the body of a mortal.

That was the easy part. The hard part would be to choose an avaible human body where it could be inhabit until the end of its brief mortal time. The darkness had to choose carefully, being born in the same place or the effort would be for nothing. But the most important thing to consider was: the body he choose should still be lacking a soul before it was taken over.

The country the moon choose turned out to have a considerably decrease on births, it was hard, but not impossible to get a mortal body in the meantime.

It was good, that human was going to be born near the place where the moon was located.

And without second thoughts, the darkness went directly to the earth to take the chance it waited for millenia. The darkness dragged its annoying star despite the protests of it and the rest of its little stars that stayed behind.

They would be ok without it, the darkness would be able to look after them from the earth, everytime the night fell under the own veil it created since the beginnings of time.

But the moon wouldn't wait for it if the darkness didn't take this chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is a short story that came to my mind when I was trying to see what I was going to do for this event.
> 
> It started because I wanted to do this drawing of Yusaku as Lunala (you know the Pokémon) because I felt it kind of fitted him (I'm still planing to do it, haha). But then I thought that Solgaleo wasn't very fit for Playmaker (because I have always thought that Takeru is more fit for that) and after thinking I decided that Necrozma was more fit for him! And like that is how I got the idea for it haha.
> 
> I feel like this story is kind of strange, but I couldn't stop myself from writing it and I hope you like it. I wanted to do it mainly because PlayYusa is a really rare ship and they are my OTP actually! haha.
> 
> Well, hope you enjoy this with me!


	2. New Year Wishes

He didn't have a lot of those memories from the beginning.

His clearest memories and thoughts were confusing, muffled noises, strange lights, Ai's annoying voice complaining about his stupidity or something like that, he wasn't sure.

He really hated his human body in the early facets of his now mortal life. They were really fragile and prone to receive damage from literally everything. The woman that called herself his 'mother' used to tell him how they thought he was born dead until they heard him cry and that only proved his point on how human bodies were so fragile to everything.

Funny thing he couldn't recolect the memories of anything of that, last thing he could remember was traveling to earth to be born as a human and start his search for the moon.

Unfortunately, not even as a god was he able to predict his search was going to take him more time than he imagined. Humans seemed to not be independent until they were late on their twenties or so, some took even more time. All that because they were limited by their bodies or mental state. And him being currently six years old was [apparently] too young to be on his own much of the time only if it wasn't for the times he had to go to school.

But maybe the most important and worrying thing is that he hasn't been able to find the moon, or should he say, the human that is the mortal incarnation of the moon. He has only been able to search for it for around a year or so when he suddenly remembered everything, not even Ai being close to him all the time was enough to make him totally remember.

What if he wasn't born in the right place?

Did he choose the wrong country or something?

Those thoughts really made him panic, it wasn't so easily to take him off his thoughts when that happened and-

'Uhmm... Playmaker-sama?'

His green gaze rapidly shot to his little star direction, whose eyes could be visible from the depths of his sweater pockets.

'Shut up, Ai. I have told you to not speak to me while I am at school, someone might see you'.

'Oh, sorry Mr. I'm so busy learning colors and numbers, next time I'm worried for you I will leave you all by yourself!'.

That only made him roll his eyes. Why did he had to choose him from all the stars avaible?

'No, its not. Everyone on here already thinks I'm weird and I don't need anymore attention from what I already have'.

'UUuuhh, Playmaker-sama~ Don't feel like that! You are not weird! Humans can't understand nor see that there is a literal god at their side! Of course they can't comprehend how great you are!'.

'Don't say such embarrasing things. Stay quiet for the rest of the day, we will talk when I'm home'.

Ai seemed to be in a better mood in this morning as he only retracted to the confines of his pocket.

When Playmaker lifted his gaze, he could see that some of his classmates were already giving him the weird look. He just had to ignore them. At least the kids in these country didn't bother him nor told him anything about it like in other places, it was rare the occasions where this happened.

As long as they didn't do anything to him, he was fine with it.

The only thing that he didn't like was bringing unwated attention to him, which kind of happened regularly. That made him kind of 'popular' around them because, yes, they thought he was weird, but that didn't took them away, it was the contrary, it only seemed to attract them for some reason.

They said that both his eyes and hair were of a pretty color, a strange one that only brought everyones attention to him.

Unless that was until they approached him. People always backed off from him because they said there was something 'creepy' in him. Maybe the way he watched them or maybe they could sense something about what he really was.

His 'mom' has already told him several times about that and the sudden change in the color of his hair since he was very little. They found it to be so strange when both of his 'parents' had dark hair color. They both had told him about dying it to stop all of this already.

He hated to admit that that was a good solution, but he hated the smell of the paint and the feeling it left on his hair.

He would complain about why being a god of darkness made no sense when his hair turned out to be that of a so light color, worse when he was also associated to a lot of concepts and one of them had to be beauty.

Mortals seemed to notice this.

He was conscious of this as he had all of those beauty standards that humans seemed to like a lot. If it wasn't for the rest of people always praising his looks or telling his parents of how 'pretty' he was, he would still be very oblivious of this. People were more worried about prising him than noticing that he was so physically different from his parents apparently.

But he didn't care for any of those.

They were not the mission he waited for literal ages.

He would continue searching, no matter if he had to skip this place if he had to.

Desperation started to raise slowly inside of him, the thought of maybe being mistaken and not being able to find the moon roamed his head more than necessary. There were times after school were he went to public parks or places where he could find a lot of other children around his age to see if he could find it or anything that could actually guide him to it. Those were really long afternoons where he just went to take a sit to the parks and see other people play there until the sun started to slowly fall and the place just died.

'We will find it soon, I assure you, Playmaker-sama!'

That was what Ai always told him whenever he had to leave. It would be so much easier if he could still track it as easily as when he was still an inmortal deity. But, alas, he was stuck like this, it would be worth if he was able to find it.

But his search got extended for days, months even, until the temperature started to slowly descend like the sun at the end of the day. Soon, it got colder, the sun itself went missing from the sky in the day and the snow took its place, chilling everything around and making nights seem even longer.

In those nights he was still able to look after his stars, they always appeared puntually, almost like if they knew he was watching at them from the balcony at his home and they wanted to greet him because he hadn't forgotten about them.

He could see his own breath with how cold the ambience was, at least he could get a little more of warmth from Ai when he held him in his hands.

It was near the end of the year already and he was still searching.

He sighed, he didn't know what to do at this right.

'You know, Playmaker-sama...' Ai suddenly said, maybe he noticed the inner thurmoil he was at the moment. 'At this rate, maybe you could start to consider making a wish to a star to finally found what you are searhing for'. Ai snorted 'Hehe... imagine that'.

'Shut up'.

Playmaker didn't want to admit it, but maybe that wasn't a so bad idea after all. But he would never give the reason to Ai in fron of him when he was already unsufferable.

Fortunately, it wasn't too long until his search beared fruit.

Humans had this tradition of celebrating both Christmas and New Year.

Christmas came pretty quickly. It was a really good day to go searching again. The streets were full of children everywhere, there were a ton of them. More than he could remember on any day of the year.

But he was still unable to find anything.

And on New Year he stayed all the day at home with his parents.

They ate, watched tv for a while, and they even gave him money like it was tradition. But what really got his attention was that at the end of the day they would go to this temple to watch the fireworks at night like every year.

A lot of people used to go to these things. It would be a prefect oportunity to search in there too.

It was still cold in the outside, with snow still falling from the sky covering everything in its path, but at least the vibrant lights from the food stalls in the street made it feel just a little more warm.

He stayed close to the people until the fireworks started and they made it easier for him to slip through them to see if he was able to find something. The fish pond near of the temple seemed like a nice place to start, maybe he wouldn't be able to find so much people there because everyone wanted to see the fireworks, but the place would give hima good view from where to start as it was a little higher from the temple. And without further ado, he went directly to it.

'Uhm.. Playmaker-sama, can I ask you something?'

Ai called to him, hidden between the folds of his jacket while he started to climb up the stairs to the pond.

'Yes, as long as you don't raise your voice, there is still a lot of people in here'.

'How are you supposed to find the human that you are searching for? Oh! Let me guess! You have this goddly super power that will tell you where that human is right? right!?'

'No'.

'EEHHH!?' He had to quickly swat his palm over the place he could feel Ai was to shut him up before anyone else could notice. 'H-How!? D-Don't tell me,we have been searching in the dark all this time!'

'No. I know it, something will tell me when i finally find it. I just know.'

'That... doesn't makes any sense, Playmaker-sama...'

He could see the pond from afar. As he expected there was little peope in there, almost no one actually, but being able to see where people would be more concentrated would give him a really good advantage.

He could see the moon that night, reflecting in the water of the pond, giving to the place this blue hue he totally loved from it. The sky was so clear that the moon was looking so big. He just wanted to reach it and touch it if he wasn't completely aware of how far it actually was.

When he approached to the pond, he could see the fishes in there, the colorful kois whose scales shinned with a pretty red, maybe as vibrant as his own hair.

It made him remember of how the moon was closely related to the water and the ocean, so intertwined that it even had a direct influence to the behavoir of the ocean itself.

It was relaxing, it also made him forget about the frustration of his almost six years of search.

When he lifted his gaze to start his descend he noticed he wasn't alone.

At the other side of the pond he could see another one siluette. When he looked closely, he noticed that it was also a boy around his same age for what he was able to see, playing with the water like if he wanted to grab the fishes in there.

He started to slowly approach, he could clearly see that the moon was gently illuminating his frame with the same light as the pond.

Could it be? He could feel his heart racing like never before.

He was very carefully with his steps, fearing that maybe he could scare him or something similar for what everyone said about his appearance.

Playmaker suddenly froze when the other boy noticed him, paying full attention to him now. Doubt being born in his heart when he saw the little boy slightly flinch, like trying to run away if it was necessary, but at the same time, he felt mesmerized by the pretty green eyes he possesed, pretty similar to his own.

Those eyes.

That was the signal he was waiting for, he could feel a certain pull from them, something that 'called' him to his very core and told him that that was it. In front of him was the one he was searching for.

'I found you'.

Playmaker had envisioned this moment multiple times.

  
He would finally be reunited with the moon, his search would be finally over and he could spend the rest of this mortal and brief time with it until they could finally be together again.

  
All that was really easy to imagine, but now that he finally had him right in front of him...

  
He didn't know what to say exactly.

  
The other boy was ready to ran off, but he would even do the impossible to prevent that.

  
'No! Please! Don't go'.

  
Playmaker tried to grab him, but the other quickly slipped from his reach. He cursed under his breath, he could easy use a little of his power to take a hold of him, but he didn't want to scare him off. But the boy stayed, still eyeing him carefully. It was weird for a kid to be this untrusting, they would normally talk with anyone no matter if it was an stranger. Why was he like this?

  
'Please, don't go' He said once again. 'I have been searching for you all this time!'

  
This seemed to catch his interest a little, but it was clear to Playmaker that that boy still had doubt in his eyes.

  
'I don't know you' He answered in a little voice, so light that he almost believed he imagined him saying it.

  
'But... I do!' He lied. 'Yes! i was searching for you to give you a New Year present myself! But I need you to approach to me first, please... don't go...'  
That seemed to work as the child slowly started to get near. Playmaker meanwhile, rummaged throught his pockets until he finally got a hold of what he was searching for and lifted both hands for the boy to see.

  
'EHH! EHHH! WHYY!?' Maybe what the other boy didn't expected was that the 'gift' he was talking about was a way to prevent him to flee and the best thing he could give him at the moment was Ai who was already panicking and [almost] cursing at his master. 'His name is Ai. He is, ah... my friend and he told me that he also wanted to be yours!'

  
'AH!? I never said that I-' Ai quickly decided to shut up when he caught a sight of the way Playmaker was looking at him, because yes, he may be stuck in the form of an infant at the moment. But he wasn't so eager of making a god mad and then be the target of all its fury. 'I-I, Yes! Ai-chan also wanted to be your friend!'

  
It was the first time Playmaker watched the boy smile, he did really looked interested in his little star. It was a so sincere smile that he couldn't help but smile too.

  
'Woah... what is your friend?' The little boy asked, of course he was interested in that little black and purple creature right in front of him as it was impossible that he has ever seen anything like it before.

  
'He is a star. One that fell from the sky when I wished to meet you'. 

  
'Hmph! you do really say ridiculous stuff, Playmaker-sama!' Ai snorted, much to his master displeasure.

  
'That is your name? Playmaker?'

  
That boy was finally looking at him directly. He could almost feel his heart clench at that, to finally see the moon itself say his name. Well, maybe Playmaker wasn't his real name, his little stars used to call him like that because, as also being associated to the concept of war, humans used to ask him for guidance when they prepared for battles and he enlightened them for the victory, thus the Playmaker surname was born.

  
'No. My name is Kurogane.' The human name his parents gave him sounded so off coming from his own mouth, but that way it would be easier for this boy to find him again. 'And you? What is your name?'

  
The boy watched him directly, with its big pretty green eyes that he was starting to love already.

  
'Yusaku. Fujiki Yusaku'.

  
Yusaku.

  
He had a name so similar to the surname his little stars gave him. He had never believed in destiny, gods were the ones that controlled the lives of the humans and what would happen to them. But for the first time, he believed that maybe there was something similar to destiny.

  
'Yusaku, do you want to be my friend?' Playmaker asked when the other boy still had his little fingers over Ai. Should he tell him to be more careful to the star? Maybe later, this was more important.

  
'Yup!' After that, Yusaku sat down in from of him with Ai in his hands.

  
Playmaker followed suit. He saw how Yusaku watched at him with interested eyes how he explained him that Ai didn't need to eat or sleep and the gently glow he produced at nights. He felt like if he guessed right when Yusaku told him that he used to suffer from occasional nightmares and needed something with light to sleep calmly. 

  
They talked on the ground near the pond until Playmaker listened how the fireworks got more intense in quantity, showing the arrival of the new year. He proposed to Yusaku to take him to where the other people were, even to take him directly to his parents.

  
He watched him make a face at the mention of his parents, some kind of sadness if he read it correctly, but he didn't say anything.

  
Playmaker took his hand and he felt like he didn't want to let go of that hand ever again.


	3. Rebirth, new beginnings

Playmaker could still remember that day vividly.

The night when he finally found Yusaku felt like if he was born again in the mortal world. Maybe that was a really exaggerated way to tell it, but since the day he found Yusaku his life in the earth changed completely.

After that night, he met who he would discover later was Yusaku's legal guardian; Kusanagi Shouichi. A man around his twenties who worked in a foodtruck in Den City's plaza. He was really relaxed and a good person at the end of the day. Even when he wasn't related to Yusaku by blood he was still able to see that he cared for the little boy as if he was his own brother.

At first it was a little difficult for him to be liked by the man. He wasn't afraid of him like almost all people, but actually he kind of eyed him weird everytime he saw him at Yusaku's home when he went to visit him after school. It was not that his presence was unwanted, but he was sure Kusanagi could sense something from him like all humans did about what he really was.

Maybe there was no fear, but he by sure felt intimidated and untrusting at first.

He could feel the same from Kusanagi Jin.

Jin was indeed afraid of him. He could tell it by the way Jin looked at him or even how much he tried to hide away from him whenever he was playing with Yusaku. He guessed that maybe Jin's fear towards him was what made the older of the Kusanagi to be more untrusting towards him and the reason why he was always keeping a really close eye on him.

Of course they couldn't put their finger on what they thought was 'off' on him. Playmaker would think it was ridiculous to think that a six year old could do something bad, but considering how evil could corrupt the human nature without caring for the age, he thought that maybe Kusanagi Shouichi was doing the right thing. Only with the time was when they were able to slowly trust in him.

Specially after Shouichi once told him that he hasn't seen Yusaku so happy for having a friend since, well... ever. Specially with how regularly he used to visit Yusaku, which was almost always, the only exceptions were the rainy days were his parents told him it was too dangerous for him to be out completely alone.

Jin took more time, but he slowly started to also get interest on him when they [mainly Yusaku] started to invite him when they were playing. Soon, he discovered that Jin was only shy at first, but he slowly started to be more open and even talk to him. He also told him about his hair and how he thought it was of a so weird color, but it was more the interest of a child than any malicious intent.

He was also a good child, Playmaker thought at a time where he saw how much Jin cared for Yusaku, almot like if they were biological brothers.

It was nice to see that they kind of started to care for him too when Shouichi let him stay in some special nights to sleep after asking for permission to his parents first.

Of course those humans were not his real parents, but he kind of didn't want them to get worried. He came to understand it after sneaking away so many times and being reprimanded for it. Only after finding Yusaku did he became a little more tame, his parents note that and they thought that maybe having a friend was starting to have a positive influence on him. He even was smiling a lot more, they noted.

But the most important thing for him, was finally be able to hold Yusaku's hands without making him uncomfortable.

The night he met him and he took his hand, something unexpected also happened. Yusaku quickly retracted his, almost like if he had touched something so blindingly hot that was going to scald him.

Yusaku did apologized for that, but that only left him wondering.

It was not until so much later, on one of those occasions where they were playing on Yusaku's home where he told him his 'secret' that Kusanagi told him to to not tell to everyone.

He found out that before Yusaku was adopted by Kusanagi, he had lost his parents in circumstances that he can't remember. He didn't have a single recolection of how his life was or how his parents looked like, he could only remember his name when he was accepted to live in an orphanage. But for some reason he didn't like to be touched by strangers. It seems that nothing bad happened to him in the orphanage when he used to live in there, he was like that by what he told him about 'don't feeling like he could make friends in there'.

He really wanted to ask about that to Kusanagi to see what could have happened. Of course he couldn't because those were really complex questions coming from a six year old and if they were suspicious of him before, that could only make things worse when they were already trusting him.

He could only think that maybe what happened to him and made him forget was also the reason he didn't like to be touched or even interact with strangers so easily.

It only made him wonder why Yusaku himself suddenly started to lose that same fear he felt at him. Ai's help was also like a lifesaver as he was able to get Yusaku's total attention.

Maybe he stopped fearing them so quickly because they were pretty similar entities? But apparently Yusaku didn't remember anything of his past life as the moon and even some of his current life memories were damaged.

He really wanted to help him, of course he would want to! He was his reason to also being reborn in earth as a mortal and he would hate if anything bad were to happen to Yusaku who was his most adored thing in this earth.

But for the first time in his existence as a god, he felt powerless.

He really wanted to help him, but the best he could do was only tell him about their past and see if he could get a glimpse of it that could make him restore those memories.

And of course he had a lot of things he wanted to ask him, like, why was he unable to answer him in the ancient times? Why he wanted to be reborn in the earth? Did he really wanted them to encounter each other? Or even see if he was lucky enough to ask him what happened to him in those years he was still searching for him.

But he didn't want to pressure him, he would never do that.

If Yusaku's wishes were that of having a life like any other mortal, he would never go against something like that. Not even when he didn't like them.

He only wished for his happiness. And he felt happy to give him that by just staying at his side and playing along in his childish games he found so dumb, but Yusaku loved.

Because he didn't waited eons for this to happen to come and then ruined them himself.

And then in a blink of an eye, the days turned into years and when he last expected it he was watching Yusaku grow and turn into a handsome young man. Well, at least in his eyes he was the most handsome between his classmates.

He had tried to apply to the same school Yusaku choosed since they graduated from elementary, but that wasn't possible becuse of the distance of their schools until they finally got into highschool. He only wished they could also have ended up in the same classroom instead of being in different classes...

'Haibara-san, are you listening to the class?' He quickly lifted his gaze at the mention of his last name. Noticing that all of his classmates attention were over him. 'Yes, I... I just was distracted by something I remembered...'

He saw his teacher sigh hopelessly at him. 'You know Haibara-san, you really have a bright mind, you could be one of the best students of the class if only you put the effort into it. I think is time you start to. Please, is the last time I wilI tell you to stop draydreaming and pay attention to what I say. Do you understood?'.

'Yes. I'm sorry Hinasaki-san'.

He could listen to some of his classmates giggling. If there was something he missed about the children were that at least they didn't do things with malicious intents most of the time like the people in these places.

They had already stop saying things about his hair. But it seems like being considered a 'pretty boy' in these places only brought him more problems than other things. Girls at least were kind to him even when he could still feel some kind of fear from them, but surprisingly he has already turned down some of them in the most polite way he could [he kind of still felt bad for Aoi after he told her he liked another one. He knew she was a little heartbroken the last days, but she seemed to be better lately]. But the other men in his class seemed to just plain hate him and instead of fearing him they decided to show him violence.

More than once has he found himself bloodied in the restrooms after some of them decided to close on him and beat him. Of course he wasn't one to let go without fighting back, they had the bad luck of messing with a god that people used to search for guiadance in the wars. But what truly scared him was the mention of Yusaku.

They were aware of his attachment to him.

And if they wanted to harm him, then may any other god had mercy on them because maybe he wouldn't be able to control himself.

Just after the classes were finished, he went to find Yusaku like he always did. They would sometimes go and eat something or just went for a walk near the river close to the highschool. This time, Yusaku opted to stay on one of the school benches were no one would be able to see them unless they were searching for them.

'You didn't fight today, right?' Yusaku asked him after handling him a bag of french fries, they were already cold and damp, but they were still fries, so it wasn't so bad at all.

'No. You did them?'

'Yes. I helped Kusanagi-san yesterday in the foodtruck and he let me bring some.'

'I suppose he wants to teach you to replace him later, don't you think?' Playmaker smirked after eating one of the fries. He loved to tease Yusaku with that.

'I don't mind, actually.' He loved to tease him even when it never worked. Yusaku was so serious all the time, but he didn't mind that at all. 'We can get more coffee if you see it like that.'

Playmaker agreed, brushing his fingers over Yusaku's when he tried to grab another one of the fries. He was corresponded when Yusaku placed his hand over Playmaker's free hand.

Since Yusaku started on puberty he started to be more touchy over him, he noted. He could almost laugh at the memory of Yusaku being a kid who feared his touch and openly rejected it. He still wasn't so eager of strangers, but since he knew him for so many years, he was a little bit more open at his side.

'There is something I need to ask you. Its something important'.

The serious tone [more serious from the usual] caught Playmaker's attention immediately. So he gave his full attention and stopped eating for a moment.

'I like you, I know you already know that'. Yusaku started, busy with his own fingers and watching at them like if they were the most interesting thing at the moment. He was avoiding looking at him directly, Playmaker concluded for himself. 'But I need you to be sincere with me first. When I met you, you told me you were searching for me and I know Ai is nothing natural that could exist in this world. I need to know...'

Now Yusaku was directly watching at him, his eyes trying to lecture him for anything that could give him an answer.

'Who are you? What are you? What do you want from me?'

Playmaker could almost feel all his blood go to his feet. Of course Yusaku was not dumb, he could not continue lying to him or hiding things from him like when he was a child when he already knew about Ai's existence.

He has told him to keep Ai as a secret only for the two of them, it was clear that was going to make him ask questions on the first place.

He took Yusaku's hand, even when he was giving him a sharp gaze.

'I will tell you everything. Maybe like that you can also come to know yourself even better'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again everyone!  
> Happy New year btw!
> 
> Some little details about the fic I want to make clear are:
> 
> -Playmaker being a god of darkness is kind of based on a god from the aztec religion called 'Tezcatlipoca' which is a god that was also considered a demon by the catolic religion. He was associated with a ton of concepts like: the night sky, night winds, hurricanes, beauty, war, sorcery, moon, stars, temptation, jaguars and a lot more!  
> When I was doing research I concluded I would choose him because he had the concepts that I liked for Playmaker as a god and bc I have bias, lol. (specially for the jaguars though! I love the fanarts of Playmaker as a kitty!). Plus! The masks that represent the image of the god are almost always covered in jade and I couldn't help myself because you know, Playmaker also has green eyes, haha.
> 
> -Kusanagi is a little older (maybe as you can see) to make it more fit for the fic, idk if I needed to clear this, but ok.
> 
> I think this is all for now.


	4. Something Old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

'I am the darkness. My existence goes back to that of the start of time itself. As an entity that can control the night and can guide the path of humans, I suppose the best explanation for them about me is that of a god'

Yusaku frowned. He seemed to be more deep in thought than doubtful actually. It kind of surprised him that he didn't laugh at his face and called him insane or something like that. Well, this is Yusaku, it wasn't like him to say or do something like that.

'My only reason to be here...'. Playmaker continued. 'Is you'.

'And what do you want from me?' Yusaku said, again showing that sharp gaze he loved so much. He could swear Yusaku's eyes became more vivid and radiant when he did that. Maybe it was wrong to admit it, but he loved how his eyes looked everytime his gaze sharpened.

He could almost smirk at that.

'You, only you. Nothing more.'

That took Yusaku a little off guard, he could see by the way his gaze softened little by little, like if he was trying to fully comprehend all what he was telling him.

'Believe or not, I have admired you from affar for so much time. Yusaku, you have this light in you that everytime I look at you I feel... complete'. He felt lucky of leaving Ai at home this day because if he was listening to all the corny stuff he was saying raight now, he wouldn't see the end of it. Playmaker took Yusaku's hand in his, almost twisting his fingers with Yusaku ones like if he wanted to grip him and never let him go. He only wished the other didn't reject his touch.

'Have you ever wondered why we share the same birthday?'

'Yes. Ever since I realized there was more behind that 'I was searching for you'.

Playmaker increased just a little his hold over Yusaku's hand.

'Is because that day, I choose to be reincarnated with you. Yusaku, I want you to understand that you are something more than a simple human. I am not saying it just because you are everything to me'.

He could see that Yusaku was understanding him completely now, but he could see in his eyes that maybe he was having a really hard moment to process it all.

He didn't blame him, but neither he expected Yusaku's reaction.

'I can't remember anything about you.' Only to be followed by. 'Thank you. But I think I need more time.'

He didn't want Yusaku to go, but that was exactly what happened. Maybe he became too overwhelmed with it, he wasn't sure. If only he could awaken his damaged memories, maybe his opinion would be different.

He only watched him go on that sunset, he didn't went after him to avoid the possibility of making Yusaku feel uncomfortable.

With the passing of the days, he thought that maybe Yusaku only wanted to distance himself to meet new people, or to think about all the things he told him at that time. But Yusaku's actitued stayed the same, being the distanced boy from his other classmates. He was still that silent boy that always had good grades and had this kind of cold stare in his eyes, but at the same time, he could feel a certain sadness in them. That was new he noted.

Did he missed him?

He wondered in those times he was supposed to be paying attention to his classes. It was not like if he didn't care anymore, it was only that the subject refused to leave his thoughts alone.

Playmaker didn't want to approach him to avoid being comfronted with Yusaku's possible rejection towards him. But that didn't stop him from consulting Kusasagi-san one day he knew Yusaku wasn't with him in the foodtruck.

'So... you say you told him a secret and Yusaku wanted time for himself. He kind of told me something like that. He has been really thoughtfull recently'. Kusanagi told him. Never taking his eyes apart from his current task; grilling sausages and onions.

The smell was delicious, but he didn't feel like eating at the moment.

'Yes. I feel like I forced him to go so quickly and he wanted to distance himself from me. Its been almost two weeks and I already miss him. I feel... so pathetic honestly'.

'What you feel is not pathetic. After so much time knowing him and being his friend, is natural that you feel the way you do when he didn't responded the way you maybe were expecting'.

'Yes, I think'.

'Here, don't be so sad'. Kusanagi gestured, leaving the hot dogs he was currently making right in front of him. 'I bet he also misses you. After all, you were his first friend when he was only six. I can still remember how you two used to play and do almost everything together all the time. It was kinda cute, honestly. Besides, you two helped Jin in a way, he isn't the same shy boy he was before and for that I am thankful.'

'Thanks, but I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep for a while.' Playmaker said, laying his head over his arm and closing his eyes.

'Oh no, no. I know when you get like this you suddenly stop eating. You can't go until you leave empty the plate. I swear you and Yusaku are more similar than you two think'.

Playmaker didn't replied. He unwillingly took the first hotdog and started chewing. He usually loved how these tasted, but he was so numb at the moment to actually care.

'Hey, Kusanagi-san'.

'Hm?'

'What do you think Yusaku would say if I tell him to marry me?'

'You are not serious, right?'

'I am'

Playmaker has done some research. He found out that usually, when humans loved each other so much they used to propose to each other like this. He even had his eyes over a pure silver ring with a little jade stone on it he saw not so long ago when he was out trying to clear his thoughts about all this situation. He didn't had the money currently to buy it. Neither they were old enough to actually marry, but he really wanted to show Yusaku how much he loved him in one or other way. If he did this, maybe Yusaku would no longer try to get away from him like he has been doing this last days or at least that was what Ai told him from what he saw in these 'soap operas' he used to watch so much.

But it was Ai at the end of the day, he wasn't so sure about the last part.

'If he hardly speaks to you now, imagine what would happen if you tell him that.'

Kusanagi was right, as much as he hated to admit it.

'Just give him time. I'm sure he will search for you when you least expect it'.

'Yeah'.

Playmaker later thanked for the food and Kusanagi for everything and left.

And in less than two months, happened what Playmaker feared the most.

It was one day after school. He had already made a habit to go home right after instead of going to search Yusaku. It still pained him not being able to talk to him, but he could understand why he wanted time for himself. Plus, he felt like he wanted to rest after taking care of Ai for the whole day, this was one of those days where he couldn't leave him completely alone at home when one of his parents was going to be there and would surely discover him because Ai didn't know how to stay quiet for more than an hour.

He walked throught the hallways near the principal door when he was able to see the people he used to fight in the restrooms when they found him completely alone. He knew when they were together they weren't planning anything nice.

When he saw them go around the corner where he remembered he used to hang out with Yusaku was when he started to get suspicious. It was where they kept all the old sports stuff, no one ever goes there after school and that was why he and Yusaku choose that place when they wanted to be together without no one noticing.

He couldn't remember exactly what happened, but as soon as he saw Yusaku being threatened with a sharp object, he completely lost it.

Yusaku wasn't afraid, he could notice it by the expression on his face. Plus, he was perfectly able to defend himself, he was completely aware of that.

But he didn't care.

He had promised himself before: if they dared to go after Yusaku; HIS Yusaku, may any other god have mercy on them.

The most he could remember was taking one of them from the back and punching him square on the face with all his strenght, he was sure he felt something crack under the pressure. He had also promised himself to never use his powers in front of Yusaku to not scare him off, but he couldn't afford him getting hurt in any way.

And thus, with a flick of his hand he took care of the rest with tentacles that emerged from the darkness. He took them by the head and with the closing of his fists he made them explode on them.

That wouldn't hurt them, less kill them, but it would surely take care of the problem by rendering them unconscious.

Playmaker collapsed on one of his knees after all the energy he had to use, he could almost feel sweat falling from his temples for all the adrenaline he felt at the moment. Mainly because he felt a little afraid at the moment about anything bad happening to Yusaku. But, damn, he didn't remember that only using a small fraction of his power could be this tiring. Maybe his human body wasn't too adapted to actually use them.

'Playmaker-sama!'

He watched Ai stretch its body to take a closer look at him, worried for his sudden outburst. Playmaker closed his eyes, trying to compose himself. He could feel Ai's little hands roam over his face, like if he was trying to see if he was ok by just doing that.

'I'm ok Ai. Just... tired'.

'Kurogane-kun!'

That was Yusaku's voice. How he missed listening to it.

'Are you alright?'

'Yeah, don't worry, ok? I'm just tired'.

'No'. Yusaku replied softly, gesturing towards Playmaker's arm with evident worry. They got him, his arm was bleeding, not profoundly but enough to stain his uniform and the ground with it. It must had happened when he punched one of them, he wasn't sure.

'We need to seek you help, Kurogane-kun!'

'Playmaker'.

Yusaku eyed him oddly.

'Please, call me Playmaker. Kurogane is my mortal name, but it sounds so off for me. Neither Playmaker is my real name, but it feels more... familiar.'

'This is not the moment! Let me call Kusanagi-san, he can come to pick us up!'

As soon as Yusaku took out his cellphone, Playmaker placed his hand over it, making him lower it.

'No. Ai, please'.

'Yes, Playmaker-sama!'

Ai climbed over his clothes until it reached his wound. It placed its small hands over it and Yusaku could see that it started to create some kind of dark energy over it. This really got his attention.

Why would Ai create dark energy if it was a star? Weren't they supposed to be shiny?

'Yusaku'. Playmaker said. Making sure to get Yusaku's attention by caressing gently his face with the knuckles of his good hand. 'You are easy to impress, don't you?'.

'Are you going to be ok?' Yusaku quickly evaded his question with another. Playmaker knew Yusaku used to do this everytime he got flustered, no matter how much times Yusaku denied it. He always found this kinda cute.

'Yes. Yusaku?' The youth watched him directly to the eye. No matter that he told him he would be ok, there was still some kind of worry in Yusaku's eyes. 'I got something for you'.

Playmaker rumagged throught his clothes until he got a firm grip over what he was searching for. He lifted his hand, showing Yusaku the pure silver ring with the little jade stone at the top. It was expensive [he was still paying for it] but he got to buy it after getting a part time job even when it was ilegal for him to have one, saving a lot and kind of lying to his parents about what he was doing in the afternoons after school.

  
But he thought it was worth for the person he loved the most.

'What is this?' Yusaku now looked confused. He felt bad for overwhelming him with so much stuff for one day.

'Its a present, something I wanted to give you for some time now'.

Yusaku take the ring on his hands, almost like examining it, he was surely having a hard time trying to process it all.

'I know we are still too young to marry, but I wanted to show you how much you mean to me with something. Yusaku, tell me why you distanced yourself from me? please'.

Yusaku frowned. He wasn't mad, but more between a mix of worry and trying to carefully think in what to say.

'I was having a hard time believing in everything you said... I know you wouldn't lie to me, but it was so hard trying to believe that something like this could actually exist, even when I was shown so much evidence since'. He paused for a brief moment. 'Since the very day I met you. I don't know how I never noticed before'.

Playmaker only smiled. Fixing his gaze on Ai, he noticed it was done healing his wound.

Yusaku eyes opened on surprise. 'I didn't know Ai was capable of doing that'.

'I am full of surprises! Isn't it, Playmaker-sama?'

'Thank you, Ai.'

Playmaker moved a little his arm, making sure that it didn't hurt anymore. After that, he locked gazes with Yusaku again, placing his hand over his, where Yusaku was holding the ring he just gave him.

'Please, don't go away from me again, Yusaku'.

Yusaku reafirmed his grip on it. 'No'. And then, he just smiled at him.

A tiny smile, very characteristic of Yusaku, but it was still a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know is pretty late because vrains rarepairweek ended some time ago.  
> But I have been so busy over some drawings and other stuff irl that I just barely had time to work on it.
> 
> I will definitely finish this because I don't like to leave my stuff unfinished.
> 
> Hope you like it!


End file.
